The waves of the north wind crashed against the reef on the shore, and in the port of Gaoting, the waves gently shook the battleship.

A group of Ming soldiers on the shore was training under the command of Shen Tongming. Shen Tingyang now has soldiers, money and food, and has become another major force in addition to the head of the southeast army. Many of the defeated troops who had lost their commanders and were scattered on the sea defected to him. It's cheap to recruit soldiers, don't need money, just have rice. Shen Tingyang disorganized most of the rout and reorganized with his own soldiers.

Many women with children live on the boat, and the rent on the island is not enough, so they have to make the boat their home. The rice brought by Shou Xiang made them slowly recover, at least this time, their eyes were no longer confused.

The righteousness of the nation, Huayi's defense has never been able to resist the mouths of wives and children waiting to be fed. Now it's useless to talk to these officers and soldiers about those vain things. The officers and soldiers who were able to withdraw to Zhoushan were certainly unwilling to surrender in their hearts, provided that they were fed.

The people of eastern Zhejiang are strong.

As far as the observance of order is concerned, there is a relatively obvious difference in the personnel structure between the Lu Jianguo regime and the Longwu regime. The Longwu court relied on the old and important ministers, while the Lu Jianguo relied on the grassroots gentry. After the local officials in power surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, a group of people with lofty ideals were excited to shave their heads and reform the system, and they rose up to raise their heads, regardless of the danger of killing their families. The backbone of Lu Jianguo is a group of talented people in eastern Zhejiang, such as Zheng Zunqian, who are young and united and energetic.

The result of so many troops gathering in Zhoushan almost overwhelmed the tiny archipelago. Many defeated armies of the two regimes of the Southern Ming Dynasty retreated here. Some people Huang Binqing can stop it, and some people Huang Binqing can't stop it.

After the defeat of Jiang's division, Zhu Yihai, the supervisor of Lu Jianguo, attached himself to Zhang Mingzhen and retreated to Zhang Mingzhen's base, Shipu Jian Jumping Institute. In August, Zhoushan was withdrawn again. Lu Jianguo himself is now stationed in Zhoushan City. Huang Binqing divided a defense area on Zhoushan Island and guarded it with Zhang Mingzhen and Ruan Jin.

Without the Wenzhou general soldier He Junyao and the prince of Xingguo, Zhiren who did not travel with the prison country, they would not have had such good luck. Wang Zhiren is stationed on Dachangtu Island attached to Daishan Island, and He Junyao is on Xiaochangtu Island. There are many soldiers and few places, and the conditions are very poor.

Leng Yinghan walked behind the order and reminded softly: "My lord, the general soldiers are all here. ”

Taipei Prefecture has set up a merchant hall on Daishan Island, Leng Yinghan is the owner of the pavilion, responsible for the trade between Zhejiang and Nanzhili, and the volume is not large now, but it has just begun.

Shou Zhi nodded, turned and left the beach. Lin Izuyong led the guards to guard the front and rear, and there were many Kirino Dan samurai in the 20-person guard, and the Ming soldiers who saw them on the road were looking sideways.

Shen Tingyang's base camp, now the center of Daishan Island, was originally a splendid temple. In extraordinary times, there was nothing else to worry about, and Daishan Island had the most complete facilities and the strongest architectural structure in this temple, and Shen Tingyang set up his yamen as the governor of Zhejiang.

A group of governors from Chongming Island guarded the governor's station, strengthened the fortifications on the basis of the original temple walls, built improvised batteries around the periphery, and erected 6 Furlong machine guns.

The Chongming soldiers all recognized the order, and saluted when they saw him coming.

Step into the former Daxiong Treasure Hall, the current Governor's Yamen Main Hall.

Shen Tingyang sat in the center, Huang Binqing, Wang Zhiren, He Junyao, Zhang Pengfei, Wang Chaoxian, and Zhu Yu, Jiang Chuan, Zhou Jian and other representatives of smaller forces.

The people who can sit here are all carefully selected by Shen Tingyang. There are too many routs, the composition is complicated, and there are many people with corrupt military discipline and bad deeds, and Shen Tingyang didn't want any of these people. There are many small islands attached to Zhoushan, and some have places for them to dock.

Shou Xuan came in and interrupted the communication between the Ming generals, and greeted them with a smile, and many of the people sitting there were creditors.

For small creditors, the observance is basically to repay the debts with grain. For Huang Binqing, Shen Tingyang, Wang Zhiren and other big creditors, Shou used part of the sugar to return it to them. Most people love sweetness, and sugar can't be sold. These military leaders retreated to Zhoushan, but they still went to the sea trade and smuggled to the Internet, and the sugar wholesale gave them a trip and sold them to Nanzhili and Zhejiang, and the income was higher than the direct return of grain.

After Shou Xian sat down, Shen Tingyang coughed and announced the start of the meeting.

"Zhoushan projectile land, now gathered 20,000 or 30,000 officers and soldiers, there is not much arable land on the island, I invite you to come today to discuss this food supply."

The head of the army retreated to Zhoushan, and the ship carried some silver money and baggage, which could be maintained for the time being, but this was also a situation of sitting on the mountain. The Nanming army had difficulty in supplying food and ammunition, and most of the army had to rely on food to get by. Whenever there is a lost battle, or there is no food to eat, they will find a few counties to divide the territory, enter the township to copy the strategy, tie up the husband, force the strong Ding, and leave no chickens and dogs. Dilute frustration and restore vitality in folk women.

The situation in Zhoushan was even more obvious, it was unrealistic to rely on fishing, and the Ming army could only survive by collecting food. Huang Binqing originally had good military discipline, he controlled Zhoushan City, the only decent territory around, and there was also some arable land on Zhoushan Island, barely self-sufficient. But even he couldn't help but beat the grain a few times, and the unprofitable business was too tempting.

Shen Tingyang was extremely sad when he thought of collecting food, "In the name of recovery, my teacher tired men and women, asked for money for ransom, and wantonly committed adultery. This is not an official army, this is a thief. ”

Drinking tea without speaking, the economic foundation determines the superstructure, and the trend of the Ming army turning from an official army to a thief is becoming more and more obvious.

Huang Binqing replied: "What Ming Gong said is true, but there is a lack of food in the army, so we have to take it from the people. If you don't get food, how can you have enough food? ”

Several other commanders echoed Huang Binqing.

Guarding the order and watching coldly, Nanjing swore an oath to the six general soldiers in the southeast. Huang Fei and Wu Zhikui were captured and taken to Nanjing, where Hong Chengchou failed to persuade them to surrender and killed the two generals. Jiang Ruolai was killed in Jinhua. Kong Sicheng withdrew from Fujian, and Emperor Longwu sent him back to Yunnan to recruit troops. Now only Huang Binqing and Wang Zhiren are still in the southeast.

Huang Binqing annexed Jing Benche, and the Zhoushan armies are now the strongest in their strength, followed by Zhang Mingzhen, and Wang Zhiren third.

Shen Tingyang has been in the army since last year, and with the help of dozens of Shi Kefa's remaining generals, his strength has grown rapidly, and now he has more than 3,000 soldiers, and he can faintly compete with several major general soldiers.

Wenzhou general soldier He Junyao is slightly weaker, Wang Chao is the Sichuan Tusi, he is very capable of fighting, and he has a strong army under his command, but he has no support in the southeast, and can only rely on other people.

Everyone knows that the fight for grain is to drink to quench thirst, and the Nanming army is supported by a breath of restoring China, and the grain will loosen military discipline and lead to a sharp decline in combat effectiveness, and the more serious result is to push the gentry and people to the Jianzhou side. Feeding food turned the Ming army into rootless water and slowly went to extinction. But if you don't get food, you will perish now. It's an unsolvable question.

Shou Xuan felt that the heat was almost over, so he said to Zhang Pengfei: "General Yaoyu, your old boss Zeng Zhonghan is now the governor of western Guangdong, and he does not have many soldiers, I hope you can help him." ”

Zhang Pengfei nodded and said, "Zeng Gong recruited, I will definitely go." I went back to put the army and warship in order, and set off when the weather was good. ”

Zhang Pengfei originally had only a few hundred soldiers, and some of his eldest brother Zhang Pengyi's subordinates broke through from Quzhou and came to Daishan to take refuge in him. With this as the backbone, Zhang Pengfei gathered some defeated soldiers from other departments, and his strength increased to 2,000 people. Zhang Zhen is reluctant to fetch food, and the current salary is only enough for him to last for two months, and finding another place is a top priority. Shou Xuan had already discussed this matter with him, and now he said it for the other commanders, and I can solve your problem.

The rest of the general soldiers looked at Zhang Pengfei enviously, Hainan Island was much more spacious than Zhoushan. Zeng Ying originally only wanted to recruit his old department of the Dengliao Naval Division, but Shou Xian expanded the scope of Zhoushan a little, and the subordinates of Zhu Dadian and Jiang Ruolai, who broke through Jinhua, also withdrew to Qiongzhou. Their soldiers are few but fine, and they can be used.

Although Wang Chaoxian and Shou Xuan met for the first time, they didn't care about the subtlety, and asked directly: "Is there a way for the lord of the country to settle me?" I also want to go to Liangguang. ”

Shou Xuan showed an embarrassed expression: "I'm just passing on a word on behalf of Zeng Zhongcheng, and I can't do this thing." If Wang Zongzhen wants to go, why don't you let someone bring a letter over first, and Zeng Zhongcheng agrees before leaving? ”

From Zhoushan to Qiongzhou, I replied to the south wind next year, and the daylilies are cold. The dynasty sat down in disappointment first.

Wang Zhiren said: "Is there any other way for the lord of the country?" ”

He Junyao smiled bitterly: "The lord of the country will never give us food for nothing, right?" ”

It is impossible to give it away for nothing. Shou Xuan looked at the military leaders. If this problem is not solved, these tough soldiers will sooner or later fight each other and kill each other in order to compete for the little resources in Zhoushan.

Shou Xuan sighed, "Xingguo Gong, you have a lot of soldiers, and it is not a way to concentrate on Changtu Mountain Island." I'll talk to the Dengzhou soldiers on Daqushan Island and ask them to give you a place to station. ”

Jin Shiying and Yang Qianqing's soldiers also plan to withdraw to Qiongzhou this time, and there is no need to grab this bit of territory with these homeless Ming troops. He will only keep the Zhoushan Islands.

Shen Tingyang said: "Xingguo Gong went to Daqushan Island, and the two Changtushan Islands were all left to He Zongzhen. ”

He Junyao exhaled, his territory could also expand a little.

Xiushan Island was given to the dynasty first.

Shen Tingyang was nominally the governor of Nanzhili in Zhejiang, but without his relationship with the order, without the grain from Nanyang, and without the sea trade channels, he would not have been able to command and mobilize these military leaders.

"Generals, on the island, we must encourage the military and civilians to cultivate fields, and only if we grow our own food can we be a long-term solution."

Of course, no one will object to Tuntian, but there is certainly not enough production on the island. The sale of cane sugar through the smuggling channels and warships of these general soldiers was also supplemented by the purchase of raw silk. It's hard to say how much you can get, and you need to find something else.

When Huang Binqing asked about Shen Tingyang again, Shou Xuan stood up and took out a map.

"Generals, there is a piece of land in the South Seas, but it depends on you to take it with swords and guns."

Northwest Borneo.

Zhoushan doesn't need to put too many soldiers, just a few resources, and the more soldiers there are, the shorter the time it can last. Lacking food and pay, many soldiers would eventually defect to Jianzhou, which would instead strengthen the enemy's strength and bring them sailors familiar with the Zhoushan waterway.

The four general soldiers walked over, and Wang Zhiren found the place where Shou Xuan said.

"Sarawak Estuary, Kuching City."

In the whole Sarawak region, only Kuching has a certain development base. The Malay princes built a city here to control the nearby Iban. Because of the large-scale smelting of iron, the forests of the Sarawak estuary have been cut down a lot, and some farmland has been cleared.

In addition to the Sarawak River, there are also major rivers such as the Lupa River and the Rajang River. Among them, the Rajang River is the longest river in Borneo, with relatively good navigation conditions, and sea boats can trace hundreds of kilometers along the river.

With the exception of the Kuching area, which has been developed by the Malays, the rest of the estuary is filled with terrifying mangrove swamps, and larger settlements such as Semu City are located in the upper reaches of the estuary.

Borneo is relatively far away, and the land is relatively barren, but the place is large, and the extensive planting and small harvest are also stronger than a few small broken islands in Zhoushan. No matter where Borneo is located, as long as it is in the South Seas, it can only go back and forth once a year according to the iron law of the monsoon. In terms of contacts, Borneo is not very different from the Philippines.

After the introduction, he took a sip of water.

Shen Tingyang emphasized: "In the place introduced by the lord, the climate is very suitable for growing pepper, and I don't need to explain to the generals how profitable pepper is, right?" ”

He Junyao's heart moved, Borneo is so far away from the mainland, in case it can't be recovered, this is also a foothold, and it will not end up homeless.

Wang Chaoxian: "How strong is the local natives?" ”

"The Dutch estimate that there are about four or five hundred thousand people in Borneo, no more than 50,000 in Kuching alone, and about 34,000 soldiers among the Turks. They had almost no iron armor or firearms, and were armed with balem knives and soft bows, as well as some poisoned blow arrows. ”

The plan of the order is to ignore Simu and other places first, and go all out to take Kuching.

Shen Tingyang: "We must continue to hold on to the Zhoushan Islands, and if you are interested, you can draw troops and hand them over to me." ”

The main force of these general soldiers still has to stay in Zhoushan, and those who can be sent to Borneo can only be partial divisions. In this way, no single force can eat, and can only form a coalition army.

Huang Binqing: "What are the conditions for the lord of the country?" ”

Shou Xuan circled two plots of land on the map, "I only need the port and this land, and the generals in other places can negotiate and divide it by themselves." ”

Harbors are to be fortified. Orderly didn't hide it, and there was a medium-sized gold mine in the land he had circled. He didn't want the profits from other grains and peppers.